Making Money From Your Technical IP – An Effective New Resource From Qi3

Intellectual Property (IP) is an important element of a company’s assets, but is all too often treated purely as an “overhead cost”, and its potential contributions to profit and the attainment of strategic business objectives overlooked or mis-understood.

“A recent study found companies that should generate between 5 and 10 percent of operating income from their IP, were averaging only 0.5 percent. The study found that the main reasons for this are limited resources and capabilities to review IP portfolios, identify opportunities and construct well planned commercialisation efforts”. *

Extracting optimum value from a company’s IP may include; licensing, sale, or the creation of “spin-out” or joint venture companies. Making the most appropriate choice requires examination of the IP strength, its strategic value (in terms of the needs and objectives of the company), and effectively matching it with new applications and associated markets.

“Efforts to commercialise IP assets without careful incorporation of technical, market and legal perspectives can greatly increase the risk and reduce the potential of the final outcome”. Dr. Doug Smeaton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Semiconductor Insights

These activities demand a mix of technical, marketing and IP exploitation skills that are not internally resident in many companies.

Qi3, a sales, marketing, and business development company, has incorporated all of its IP skills, resources and commercial experience into one service. This service, appropriately called TechMax, is designed to maximise the value of your technology through understanding its commercial potential then identifying and implementing appropriate business models.

“Qi3 helped us first to realign our view of the direction in which we should direct our technical development. This involved assessing the market and realising that some specific performance improvements would radically improve the saleability of our technology. They then worked with us to form a series of development and licence agreements in the UK, the USA and Japan. These deals have brought us significant cash resources which have advanced our business prospects”. Adrian Travis, Technical Director, CamFPD.